Google Translate takes on Duolingo with new language learning tools

Google is rolling out a new AI-powered experimental feature in Google Translate designed to help people practice and learn a new language, the company announced on Tuesday. Translate is also gaining new live capabilities to make it easier to communicate in real time with a person speaking a different language.

The new language practice feature is designed for both beginners starting to learn conversational skills and advanced speakers looking to brush up on their vocabulary, the company says. To do so, it creates tailored listening and speaking practice sessions that adapt to a user’s skill level and unique learning goals.

With this new language practice feature, Google is taking on Duolingo, the popular language learning app that uses a gamified approach to help users practice over 40 languages.

To access the feature, you’ll select the “practice” option in the Google Translate app. From there, you can set skill level and goals. Google Translate then generates customized scenarios where you can either listen to conversations and tap the words you hear to build comprehension, or you can practice speaking. The exercises track users’ daily progress, Google says.

The beta experience is rolling out in the Google Translate app for Android and iOS starting Tuesday. The feature is available first for English speakers practicing Spanish and French, as well as for Spanish, French, and Portuguese speakers practicing English.

Google is also introducing the ability for users to have back-and-forth conversations with audio and on-screen translations through the Translate app.

“Building on our existing live conversation experience, our advanced AI models are now making it even easier to have a live conversation in more than 70 languages — including Arabic, French, Hindi, Korean, Spanish, and Tamil,” Google wrote in a blog post.

You can tap the “Live translate” option in the Translate app and then select the language you want to translate by simply speaking. You’ll then hear the translation aloud alongside a transcript of your conversation in both languages. The app will translate and switch between the two languages that you and the other person are speaking.

Google notes that the feature can identify pauses, accents, and intonations to allow for a natural-sounding conversation.

The feature uses Google’s voice and speech recognition models to isolate sounds, which means you would be able to use the live capabilities in a loud restaurant or busy airport.

These live translation capabilities are available starting Tuesday for users in the U.S., India, and Mexico.

“These updates are made possible by advancements in AI and machine learning,” Google wrote in its blog post. “As we continue to push the boundaries of language processing and understanding, we are able to serve a wider range of languages and improve the quality and speed of translations. And with our Gemini models in Translate, we’ve been able to take huge strides in translation quality, multimodal translation, and text-to-speech (TTS) capabilities.”

Google says that people translate around 1 trillion words across Translate, Search, Lens, and Circle to Search. The company believes these new AI-powered features will help overcome language barriers.